On 21 June 1955, the International Labour Conference adopts the Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention — C104 — the ILO instrument requiring elimination of criminal penalties for breaches of indigenous workers’ employment contracts.

The Convention targets remnants of colonial forced-labour regimes and criminal punishment for “contract breach,” requiring ratification to be accompanied by effective abolition of such sanctions.

Entry into force: 7 June 1958. The instrument was later “shelved” by the ILO (no longer open to ratification) but remains in force for states that ratified it.

C104 belongs to the postwar series of ILO standards against discrimination and forced labour in non-metropolitan territories.

For colonial labour law, 21 June 1955 marks a formal step toward abolishing penal sanctions on indigenous workers’ contracts.

The official text is on NORMLEX (ILO C104).

Convention C104 of 21 June 1955 remains the ILO reference for abolishing penal sanctions on indigenous workers.

Image: ILO headquarters Geneva; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955. Treaty text: C104 — Abolition of Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) Convention, 1955 (ILO).